Automatic control of signals by light.



W. A. MOPPETT & R. P. PERKINS.

AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF SIGNALS BY LIGHT.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 24, 1912.

COLUMIHA Patented Feb. 24, 1914,

June/Moro WflMoffe a, M U fi-R Per/$1 05 92,1, flaw/17m town e110 @TATESPATENT UFFTQE,

WILLIAM A. MOFFETT AND RAYMOND P. PERKINS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF SIGNALS BY LIGHT.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, lViLLIAM A. Morrn'rtrand RAYMOND P. PERKINS, citizens of the United States, residing at SanFrancisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Control ofSignals by Light; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to means for automatically controllii'ig signalsby the action of light, and has for its object to provide a method andapparatus which will accomplish this purpose with certainty andelliciency.

To these ends the invention consists in the novel arrangements oil partsconstituting our apparatus, all as will be more fully hereinafterdisclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification in which the figure is a diagrammatic illustration of ourmeans for carrying out our invention 1 indicates any suitable source ofelectrical energy, such as a storage battery provided with lead wires 2and 8. To the lead wire 3 is connected as at the wire 51 connected at 52to the wire 53, joined to the charging device 6, as shown. The saidcharging device is connected by the wires 5 l to the generator 1, drivenby the wind wheel 5, and the said charging device (3 is further connected by the wire 55 to the lead 2 as at 56. Joined to the lead wire 3as at 58 is the wire 57, joined to the lamp 7, and leading from saidlamp 7 is the wire 59, joined as at 60 to the wire 61 connected at thepoint 56 to the lead wire 2. The lamp 7 projects light rays to thereflector 8, which reflects said rays through a colored or plain glass 9to a selenium cell 10. The intensity of the light thus reflected to theselenium cell may be readily varied by adjusting the distance of thereflector S, by varying the character of the glass or screen 9, or byany other suitable means. Said selenium cell is joined by the wire (32to the wire 59, and leading from said cell is the wire 63 joined to theresistance 12, which n turn is joined to the wire 6 1 passing to thesolenoid or clectro-nnignet 11, and leading from said solenoid is a wire65 ']01I1Gtl t0 the wire 57 as at 66. From the construction nowdisclosed it is obvious that after the storage battery 1 is charged bythe generator 4, current continuously passes from said battery throughlamp 7 by means of the wires 3, 57, 59, (J1 and 2. It is also obviousthat more or less current continuously passes through the selenium cell10 from said battery through the wires 3, 57, 65, solenoid 11, wire 64:,resistance 12, wire 63, wire 62, wires 59, 61 and 2. The resistance 12,however, is chosen of such a value that when light is cut oil from thecell 10, very little current can pass over the circuit just mentioned,and not enough to raise the armature of said solenoid. A shunt circuitaround said resistance 12 is provided through the wires 67 and 68, whichwires are provided with the open contacts 13 controlled by the switchcontacts 1 1 on the lever 15. The armature of said solenoid 11 carriesswitch contacts 16 adapted to control the contacts 18 with which thewires 69 and 7 0 are provided. The wire 70 is joined to one end of thecoil of the solenoid 19, and the wire 71 is joined to the other end ofsaid coil. The said wire 71 is oined to the switch contacts 20, withwhich the wire 72 is also joined, and said wire 7 2 is joined to thewire 57 as at the point 73. The wire (39 is joined to the wire 59 as atthe point 7 1. It there fore follows that when the armature of thesolenoid 11 closes the contacts 18, current will flow from the battery1, through the wire 3, wire 57, to the point 7 2), wire 72, to thecontacts 20, wire 71, through the coil of solenoid 19, through the wires70, through the contacts 18, wire 69, to the point 7 1, through the wire59 to the point 60, and over the wires 61 and 2 back to the battery 1.The solenoid 19 will accordingly be energized and the switch contacts 11- will close the circuit at the contacts 13, thus cutting out theresistance 12. The purpose of thus cutting out said resistance 12briefly stated is, to permitcurrent to How through the g, or isotherwise feasted, all as will appe: iiore fully below. On the otherhand, when current flows through said resistance 12 and the solenoid 11in the manner above stated, the armature of said solenoid will leave thecontacts 18 so as to close selenium cell 10 when the light from lamp atil BIS

circuit through the contacts 17. When this happens, then current willflow from the battery 1 through the wires 3 and 57, point 73, wire 72,wire 75, contacts 23, wire 76, coil of solenoid 22, wire 77, contact 17,wire 78, wire (39, to point 71, wire 59, to point 60, and wires (51 and2, back to said battery 1. This will cause the solenoid 22 to beenergized, its armature to be raised, and the contact at 23 to bebroken, all for a purpose to be likewise more fully disclosedhereinafter.

The armature 21 of the solenoid 19 and the armature of the solenoid areconnected to the lever 15 shown, at opposite sides of its fulcrum and aspring 26 en gages said lever for yieldingly maintaining the latter ineasy swinging position about its fulcrum. The spring 26 is anchored atone end, with its free end engaging a V-shaped recess 26 formed in thelever 15 radially to the fulcrum 25 of the latter. By this construction,swing of said lever 15 in either direction will cause the free end ofthe spring to engage the corresponding side wall of the V-shaped recess26, and thereby yieldingly maintain said lever at either position ofextreme swing. The end of the lever 15 nearest the armature 21 is alsoprovided with switch contacts 28 adapted to close circuit through thecontacts 27 carried by the wires 57 and 59, as shown. An auxiliaryswitch 29 is also provided for independently connecting said contacts 27when desired.

An electrically actuated horn 30 of any suitable and well knownconstruction, or other suitable signaling apparatus is connected by thewire 80 in a shunt circuit to the wire 5'? at the points 81 and 82, asshown. In series in the wire 80 is joined the circuit breaker, orcontacts 31 adapted to be actuated automatically by the electric motor33 in the circuit with the wire 57. The said motor rotates the deviceprovided with the cams 3 1, adapted to raise and lower the contacts 31as will be readily understood from the drawings. By properly spacing thesaid cams 3 1, any suitable distinctive character may be given to thesignals through the horn 30.

From the construction so far disclosed, it will be clear that should afog arise which would cause the artificial light from the lamp 7 to berefracted or broken up, or otherwise prevented from reaching theselenium element 10, the electrical resistance through said element willbe greatly in creased and the electric current sufficiently cut out fromthe solenoid 11 to prevent its armature from being raised. The saidarmature will thereupon drop and close the contacts 18 to permit thepassage of current through the switch solenoid 19 over the circuit abovedisclosed. The energizing of the said solenoid 19 will accordingly causeits armature 21 to be elevated, which in turn will cause the switchcontacts 14 to close the circuit at the points 13, and will also causethe circuit through said solenoid to be broken at the point 20. Thelifting of the said lever 15, however, will close the circuit throughthe contacts 27, and the spring 26 will hold the said lever in suchposition. Accord ingly, current will flow from the battery 1 through thewire 3 to the point 58, along the wire 57 to the point 81, and stillalong the wire 57 through the motor 33 to the point 82 and to andthrough the contacts 27. From the contacts 27 the current will flowalong the wire 59 to the point 60, and along the wires 61 and 2 back tothe battery. The motor 33 will accordingly actuate the device 32 tocause predetermined audible signals to be emitted from the horn 30.These signals will continue until the fog leaves, or until the lightfrom the lamp 7 is otherwise turned on to the selenium cell 10,whereupon sufficient current will pass through the solenoid 11 to breakthe circuit through the contacts 18 and to close the circuit through thecontacts 17. As soon as current passes through the contact 17 thesolenoid 22 is energized, and the switch contacts 28 are caused to breakthe circuit at the points 27, thus stopping the audible signals throughthe horn 30. However, it might happen that the fog does not liftsufliciently to cause the contact 16 of the solenoid 11 to rise, and yetit would lift sufficiently to make it desirable to shut off the audiblesignals from the horn 30. In order therefore to insure the contact 16closing the circuit at the point 1'7 whenever the fog has so lifted asto permit a predetermined intensity of light to flow upon the seleniumcell 10, we have provided the shunt circuit composed of the wires (57and 68 through the contacts 13. The action of this circuit is to permitcurrent to flow around the resistance 12 and through the solenoid 11,and thereby supplement the current which normally flows when the lightis strong through said solenoid 11 and said resistance 12.

hen it is desired to utilize our invention for the production of lightsignals or flashes at night, we employ the electric lamp 83 1'0- tatedby the motor 35 in any suitable manner, to give light signals of anydesired distinctive character. Said lamp and motor are fed from battery1 as follows: Joined to the lead wire 2 as at the point 56 is the wire81 passing to one side of the motor 35, and to the other side of saidmotor is the wire 85 joined as at 86 to the wire 87, connected to thearmature 88 of the magnet 37 controlling the contact 36 connected to thewire 89, joined as at 90 to the wire 91, connected at 50 to the lead 3of said battery, as shown. The lamp is fed as follows Joined to the wire84: as at 92 is the wire 93 to which is connected as at 94 the wire 95passing through the lamp, and connected at its other end as at 96 to thewire 87 as shown. The wire 93 likewise passes through the selenium cell38 and fastens to one end t the coils of the magnet 37. The other end ofsaid coils is connected to the wire 91 as shown. A switch 44 is providedto control manually the circuit between the points 96 and. 90. Signalsfrom the lamp 83, ac cordingly, will be produced as follows: IV hen thesun shines upon the cell 38, its resistance is lowered, and current fromthe lead wire 3 will pass through the wire 91,

throu h the ma met 37 the wire 93. throu h f the cell 38, to point 92,and thence over the wire 84: back to the battery.

The magnet 37 being thus energized, the circuit at the contact 36 willbe broken, and no light from the lamp 83 will be produced. Further, thecircuit through the motor 35 will likewise be broken and the lamp will'not be revolved. When the sun goes down, or the light is otherwise cutoil from the selenium cell 38, the magnet 37 will not be energized,owing to the greater resistance of said cell 38, and the circuit at thecontact 36 will be made. Current will now flow from battery 1 over thelead wire 3, wire 91, to the points 90, wire 89, through the contact 36,armature 88, to the point 96, over the wire 95, through the lamp 853 tothe point 91, over the wire 93 to the point 92 and over the wires 84 and2 back to the battery. The lamp accordingly will be lighted. In the sameway current, after reaching the point 96 will pass on down the wire 87to the point 86, over the wire 85, through the motor 35, over the wire84, to the point 56, and over the wire 2 back to the battery, so thatthe said motor will cause the lamp 83 to revolve.

39 and 40 represent the usual electrical condensers bridged across thecircuits as shown, in order to prevent sparking.

In order that this apparatus may be provided with a multiple wiring sothat it may operate from various points, we have provided the wires llwhich join the wires 62 and 05 as shown, and therefore lead, off currentfrom said wires to any suitable point. In the same way we have providedthe wires 41-2 joined to the wires 69 and 70, which like wise lead oilcurrent from said wires 69 and 70 to any suitable point. The sameremarks apply to the wires 4-3 which are oined to the wires 77 and 78;and the same remarks like wise apply to the wires 1-5 which are joinedto the wires 53 and It is obvious that those skilled in the art may varythe details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts withoutdeparting from the spirit oi our invention, and therefore we do not wishto be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by theclaims.

hat we claim is 1. In a signaling system, the combination of a signalingapparatus, electromagnetic means for governing the operation of saidapparatus, means regulated by the action of light for controlling theaction of said electro-magnetic means, means for projecting light rayson the light-regulated means, and means for automatically increasing thesensitiveness of said electromagnetic means upon the cutting out oflight rays from said lightregulated means.

2. In a signaling system, the combination of a signaling apparatus,electromagnetic means for governing the operation of said apparatus, anelectric circuit for energizing said electro-magnetic means, a seleniumelement in said electric circuit, means for projecting light rays onsaid selenium element, and means for automatically reducing theresistance of said circuit upon the cutting out of light rays from saidselenium elc ment.

3. In a signaling system, the combination ota signaling apparatus,electro-maguetic means for governing the operation of said apparatus, anelectric circuit for energizing said electro-magnetic means, a highresist ance and a selenium element connected in series in said electriccircuit, means for projecting light rays on said selenium element, andmeans for automatically shunting out said high resistance upon thecutting out of light rays from said selenium element.

4:. In a signaling system, the combination of a signaling apparatus,electromagnetic means for governing the operation of said apparatus, ahigh resistance electric circuit for energizing said electro-magneticmeans, a. selenium element in said electric circuit, means forprojecting light rays on said selenium element, means for automaticallyreducing the resistance of said electric circuit upon the cutting out oflight rays from said selenium element, and means for automaticallyrestoring the normal high resistance to said electric circuit upon theprojection of light rays on said selenium element.

5. In a signaling system, the combination of a signaling apparatus,shittable means for regulating the operation of said appa ratus,actuating means for said shit'table means, means controlled by theaction of light for governing the operation of said actuating means, andmeans operated by said actuating means for automatically cutting out theoperation of the latter.

(5. In a signaling system, the combination of a signaling apparatus,shiftable means for regulating the operation of said apparatus,actuating means for said shi'ltable means, means controlled by theaction of light for governing the operation of said actuating means,means operated by said actuating means for automatically cutting Intestimony whereof, We aliiX our signatures, in presence of twowltnesses.

XVILLIAM A. MOFFETT. RAYMOND P. PERKINS.

Witnesses as to the signature of Villiam A. Mofiett:

V. H. BELKNAP, EUGENE BASTIAN. itnesses as to the signature of RaymondP. Perkins:

EDW. L. Vooonnrr, ARTHUR C. ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C.

